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Ridgeback (Confessions of a Wasteland Pony)
Ridgeback is a side character in the audio drama series Confessions of a Wasteland Pony. Her story is told by Diamondback in the seventh episode, The Mercenary. Biography Smoke Devil Ridgeback is a unicorn mare who was born in the Valley of Fire in the northwest of Equestria. Her mother was part of the Smoke Devil raider clan, but as was common among raiders, showed very little affection for the young filly. She never knew who her father was, only that he was also a Smoke Devil and was killed in a raid when Ridgeback was very young. Her mother would soon perish too during the ongoing war between the Smoke Devils and Razorwings. Ridgeback herself would be old enough to get roped into the combined conflict against the invading Great Arrows. During one of the last big battle between the tribes, an explosion flung her against a boulder, breaking her horn in half. While it hurt to use for a while, eventually her magic came back with a raw energy. While she had very poor focus control for things like telekinesis, she was able to fire powerful energy blasts from the cracked edge of her horn. She even got a cutie mark related to these powerful explosive spells. Despite these safer living conditions, Ridgeback felt adrift. She was surprised they weren’t all wiped out in the conflict. She thought the peace agreement was a trap that the Great Arrows would spring on them when the time was right. She spent her teenage years not planning for a future she thought would never happen. Everything was just day to day… Sleep with something, sack a caravan, get blackout drunk… Nothing really mattered. Mercenary Because of her many hookups, and hopeless outlook on life, Ridgeback started doing any kind of assignment she was offered. It made her into one of the most useful mercenaries of the region. She knew almost everyone and could organize larger raiding parties very easily. The energy blasts from her horn, and her other above average skills made her very fearsome. However, this way of life had also made her very isolated in a way. She wasn’t a ‘Smoke Devil’ anymore. She did work for too many other raider clans, including the Razorwings, so now she was just a mercenary. Eventually, her talents brought her before Governor Farthing, the Great Arrow regional master who ultimately managed the Valley of Fire. After proving her abilities in a few test missions, Ridgeback became a regular contractor for the Great Arrows. As the years went on, Ridgeback became a de facto representative for Governor Farthing, becoming the one to recruit other mercenaries and organize the special "capture and conquer" missions. This would go on for several years until a powerful new creature would come to the valley. Diamondback, a half-dragon, would eclipse Ridgeback as the most dangerous mercenary in the valley. This also made him a prime candidate to be recruited into the Great Arrows' missions. The two would work well together, and Diamondback would work for Ridgeback and the Arrows for many years afterwards. Mother It was during this time of her life that Ridgeback would save the life of a doctor trapped in the ruins of his former stable. Sutures was paralyzed from the waist down, and the elevators had been damaged during the civil war that destroyed the stable. Sutures would be very helpful patching Ridgeback up after some of her various raids and missions, and eventually they would fall for each other. Sometime later, when Ridgeback became pregnant, she had a major perspective shift and began to dislike her work with the Great Arrows. Her life was no longer biding time before oblivion, she had a family now. She began laying the groundwork to disassociate from the Great Arrows and mercenary life altogether, but found it hard to sever ties completely, it was all she'd ever done. Before she could get away completely, something happened among the Great Arrows and there was a new rush to accomplish a unique task. To force Ridgeback to lead the operation, Governor Farthing had her family captured. He would kill them if she did not return with the object successfully. With no other options, Ridgeback gathered the party together and begged Diamondback to help her. Quotes * "Things started off like normal. (…) We were tranqing them well enough, but then the griffon made the stupid mistake of hitting one of the bucks right as he was passing the campfire. The buck fell backwards into the fire, and because of the tranquilizer dart, he was paralyzed. So he burned alive. After the raid, the Great Arrows rolled in, and were none too happy to see this large muscular buck burned to a crisp because of a poorly planned shot. At first, I thought I was the only one who saw the shot, flying in the air at the time. I didn’t say anything, or point out the guy, but Ridgeback knew anyway. (…) The look on her face would give a Hellhound a heart attack. As soon as the griffon joined us in the town center, Ridgeback quickly pulled out a knife with her teeth and sliced his throat open from ear to ear. He started gushing blood, but had enough control to try to aim his gun at her. The thing with Ridgeback though, is that even with her horn cracked open, it was crazy powerful. She fired this ball of energy and took his whole arm off with the gun. Not that it mattered much, because he was almost empty of blood anyway. Within seconds of that blast, he collapsed on the ground, dead. (...) It freaked me the fuck out the first time I saw it. When Ridgeback wanted to kill something, she could easily blow large chunks out of it without much of a thought. Add that to her cunning and a slim, athletic body... made her one scary broad." - Diamondback (describing the story) Behind The Scenes * Ridgeback is based loosely on Tempest Shadow from the My Little Pony Movie. Category:EAST Corp Productions Category:Confessions of a Wasteland Pony Category:Characters (Confessions of a Wasteland Pony)